Vis-a-vis Burger King moving its corporate headquarters to Canada, letter-writer L.W. Hunley has a point when he asks, “[W]hy shouldn’t the corporate tax rate for Canada and the USA be the same?” But the reason is simple: the corporate tail now wags the government dog. This is true not just in corporations moving operations overseas so they can pay cheaper wages, and not just moving corporate headquarters to other countries so they can pay lower taxes, but also in playing states against states for lower wages and taxes. Why do corporations leave the relatively expensive Northeast and relocate in the Sun Belt? It’s cheaper to do business there because those states are willing to sell out their citizens’ birthrights, so to speak, by offering corporations tax incentives or the even greater incentive of no taxes at all.

Until states and countries wise up that they’re being played, this heinous practice will continue. The people who run corporations may be venal and amoral, but they’re not stupid.

Robert Cooperman, Denver

This letter was published in the Sept. 9 edition.

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Billionaire Warren Buffet is backing a deal under which Burger King would acquire the Canadian company Tim Hortons and move the BK headquarters to Canada, which has a significantly lower corporate tax rate than the United States. (Justin Sullivan, Getty file)

There has been an outcry by liberals and progressives to boycott or picket Burger King for considering moving their headquarters to Canada. I guess to the liberals this is a silly question, but why shouldn’t the corporate tax rate for Canada and USA be the same? Just wondering.

L.W. Hunley, Grand Junction

This letter was published in the Sept. 2 edition.

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Burger King is revoking its citizenship and relocating to Canada for tax savings. I understand the motive. But I’m miffed because I must pick up my share of the government services left unpaid for by the company’s defection.

I will no longer patronize any of Burger King’s outlets here. Not that I have anything against Canadian companies, but apparently U.S. citizens and the costly needs they place on their government offend Burger King. Fortunately, there are restaurants left that aren’t offended by U.S. citizens even if their government is a little expensive.

Sorry to see Burger King go, but best wishes to them in their new country. As for the company’s burdensome U.S. tax, hopefully it will dwindle to zero as its U.S. profits fall to zero for lack of customers. Zero profits, zero taxes. Fair deal?

George F. Will believes that corporate inversions will increase investment and wages of U.S. workers. The data contradict his assertion. According to the Harvard Business Review, since 2003, most S&P 500 companies used 91 percent of their earnings to either buy back stock or pay dividends. Forgoing $1 of taxes for just $0.09 in investment is bad policy.

Will champions states like Alabama and Georgia for “tailoring tax and regulatory policies” to compete against others states. What have the residents of these states gotten for these efforts by their government? Alabama has a poverty rate of 16.7 percent, fifth highest in the country. Georgia has the second highest unemployment rate in the country at 7.8 percent.

We need to turn away from the myopic belief that if shareholder value is maximized, everything else will just magically work out. Corporations must consider all stakeholders in their decisions for the good of their business and the country.

Ed Briscoe, Denver

This letter was published in the Aug. 31 edition.

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As a mother of a preteen with Type 1 juvenile diabetes, I have followed research concerning this disease and have a large bulletin board filled with diabetes research articles from around the world, both in lay terms and difficult-to-understand, cellular biology terms. Yes, the new discovery regarding skin cells morphing into stem cells is exciting. However, people don’t read the “fine print.”

Even the researchers who discovered this type of cell caution that viruses were used to promote the growth of these cells (viruses that cause tumors). These cells have ethical dilemmas of their own — no egg, no sperm, just a cell from the skin that can be obtained quite easily without the knowledge of the donor. We are years off in promoting this new research as the “standard in the industry.”

As to Type 1 diabetes research, my opinion is that the researchers at the Geron Corporation and the University of Alberta in Canada are closing in on a cure for Type 1. Don’t shut down one type of research just because another seemingly has been discovered without a track record. Let the researchers do their job in their field to see who gets to the finish line first in curing diseases.

Gov. Bill Ritter took away some important lessons from his visit to the Alberta tar sands nightmare. His remark that adverse impacts from oil shale to Colorado’s water, land, wildlife, air quality, and communities must be thoroughly investigated before commercial development begins is the only responsible position for a politician to take.

What Ritter observed was one of the worst examples of irresponsible energy development in the hemisphere. Canadians are tearing out the heart of the wild boreal forest, the planet’s largest storehouse of climate-regulating carbon, to strip mine deposits of gooey tar sands to meet America’s relentless thirst for fuels. After the Illinois region, Colorado is the largest recipient of oil derived from Canadian tar sands.

And the impacts go well beyond Canada. It takes a huge amount of energy to turn tar sands and oil shale into fuel, making them a far worse source of greenhouse gases than conventional crude.

Colorado can become a leader in creating a cleaner and greener energy future. To do that, we have to prevent industry from filling our fuel needs with the dregs of the fossil-fuel barrel — oil shale, tar sands and coal.

The Colorado Rockies have applied for a trademark for the term “Rocktober.” News reports indicate that local bars, clothing stores, and other businesses with signage, sportswear, or little hankies with the “Rocktober” verbiage will likely receive a cease and desist letter — because the right to make money from this Fall Classic pun will be held exclusively by the same fan-friendly organization that increases ticket prices when the Cubs or Yankees come to town but don’t give discounts when the Royals are the opposing team. Read more…

Your stories about the Colorado Rockies, their unbelievable success and the bond between a manager and a dying 15-year-old boy (“Remarkable Rockies’ magic number is ’64’,” Oct. 14 Mark Kiszla column) are truly compelling. My son and I are connecting in a positive way watching the Rockies, and he is even reading the newspaper! This team is truly international and befits the title “coalition of the willing,” as they display a unique sense of class not normally seen in athletics these days. These are our men playing a boy’s game while we have our “boys” in Iraq playing one man’s game. For a brief period, this team and your stories bring us hope in a time of despair and shed light where there is darkness. Read more…

Al Gore has devoted years and substantial effort to highlight the environmental issues that we face; however, Paul Krugman writes about “what happened in 2000, when the American people chose Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House.” That “somehow” is the Electoral College process for electing the president, not the popular vote count, as many seem to have forgotten or choose to ignore. Read more…

As one of the millions of uninsured, I’ve developed the habit of shopping for my medical care. The good news is that there are deep discounts to be had if you can pay at the time you receive care. Nor does cost have much to do with quality of care. Some top doctors give deep discounts for not
having to deal with the “medical insurance companies”. Read more…

In November of 2004 Colorado voters approved FasTracks at a price tag of 4.7 billion dollars. We approved this because we believe in smart transportation and in the mission of our Regional Transportation District. However, I am concerned about RTD’s process in implementing FasTracks. I am concerned that the implementation is not compatible with what we approved in 2004. RTD is paying Union Pacific Rail Road to relocate its yards to the Brighton and Fort Lupton region. Read more…

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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